Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G16—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS
  • G16H—HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
  • G16H20/00—ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance
  • G16H20/10—ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
  • G16H20/17—ICT specially adapted for therapies or health-improving plans, e.g. for handling prescriptions, for steering therapy or for monitoring patient compliance relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients delivered via infusion or injection
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M5/00—Devices for bringing media into the body in a subcutaneous, intra-vascular or intramuscular way; Accessories therefor, e.g. filling or cleaning devices, arm-rests
  • A61M5/14—Infusion devices, e.g. infusing by gravity; Blood infusion; Accessories therefor
  • A61M5/1407—Infusion of two or more substances
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M5/00—Devices for bringing media into the body in a subcutaneous, intra-vascular or intramuscular way; Accessories therefor, e.g. filling or cleaning devices, arm-rests
  • A61M5/14—Infusion devices, e.g. infusing by gravity; Blood infusion; Accessories therefor
  • A61M5/142—Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M5/00—Devices for bringing media into the body in a subcutaneous, intra-vascular or intramuscular way; Accessories therefor, e.g. filling or cleaning devices, arm-rests
  • A61M5/14—Infusion devices, e.g. infusing by gravity; Blood infusion; Accessories therefor
  • A61M5/142—Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps
  • A61M5/14244—Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps adapted to be carried by the patient, e.g. portable on the body
  • A61M5/14276—Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps adapted to be carried by the patient, e.g. portable on the body specially adapted for implantation
  • A61M5/1428—Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps adapted to be carried by the patient, e.g. portable on the body specially adapted for implantation with manual pumping action
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M5/00—Devices for bringing media into the body in a subcutaneous, intra-vascular or intramuscular way; Accessories therefor, e.g. filling or cleaning devices, arm-rests
  • A61M5/14—Infusion devices, e.g. infusing by gravity; Blood infusion; Accessories therefor
  • A61M5/168—Means for controlling media flow to the body or for metering media to the body, e.g. drip meters, counters ; Monitoring media flow to the body
  • A61M5/16877—Adjusting flow; Devices for setting a flow rate
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M5/00—Devices for bringing media into the body in a subcutaneous, intra-vascular or intramuscular way; Accessories therefor, e.g. filling or cleaning devices, arm-rests
  • A61M5/14—Infusion devices, e.g. infusing by gravity; Blood infusion; Accessories therefor
  • A61M5/168—Means for controlling media flow to the body or for metering media to the body, e.g. drip meters, counters ; Monitoring media flow to the body
  • A61M5/16877—Adjusting flow; Devices for setting a flow rate
  • A61M5/16881—Regulating valves
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M5/00—Devices for bringing media into the body in a subcutaneous, intra-vascular or intramuscular way; Accessories therefor, e.g. filling or cleaning devices, arm-rests
  • A61M5/14—Infusion devices, e.g. infusing by gravity; Blood infusion; Accessories therefor
  • A61M5/168—Means for controlling media flow to the body or for metering media to the body, e.g. drip meters, counters ; Monitoring media flow to the body
  • A61M5/172—Means for controlling media flow to the body or for metering media to the body, e.g. drip meters, counters ; Monitoring media flow to the body electrical or electronic
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G16—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS
  • G16H—HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
  • G16H40/00—ICT specially adapted for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities; ICT specially adapted for the management or operation of medical equipment or devices
  • G16H40/40—ICT specially adapted for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities; ICT specially adapted for the management or operation of medical equipment or devices for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G16—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR SPECIFIC APPLICATION FIELDS
  • G16H—HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
  • G16H40/00—ICT specially adapted for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities; ICT specially adapted for the management or operation of medical equipment or devices
  • G16H40/60—ICT specially adapted for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities; ICT specially adapted for the management or operation of medical equipment or devices for the operation of medical equipment or devices
  • G16H40/67—ICT specially adapted for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities; ICT specially adapted for the management or operation of medical equipment or devices for the operation of medical equipment or devices for remote operation
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M5/00—Devices for bringing media into the body in a subcutaneous, intra-vascular or intramuscular way; Accessories therefor, e.g. filling or cleaning devices, arm-rests
  • A61M5/14—Infusion devices, e.g. infusing by gravity; Blood infusion; Accessories therefor
  • A61M5/142—Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps
  • A61M2005/14208—Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps with a programmable infusion control system, characterised by the infusion program
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M5/00—Devices for bringing media into the body in a subcutaneous, intra-vascular or intramuscular way; Accessories therefor, e.g. filling or cleaning devices, arm-rests
  • A61M5/14—Infusion devices, e.g. infusing by gravity; Blood infusion; Accessories therefor
  • A61M5/142—Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps
  • A61M5/14244—Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps adapted to be carried by the patient, e.g. portable on the body
  • A61M2005/14264—Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps adapted to be carried by the patient, e.g. portable on the body with means for compensating influence from the environment

Definitions

• the instant application is directed towards infusion pumps and more specifically to systems and methods for providing flow rate compensation to one or more infusion pumps with respect to a head height pressure of a fluid supply container.
• the present disclosure provides a new and innovative method and system for flow control in electronic devices, including medical devices.
• the device includes an infusion pump.
• patients sometimes require precise delivery of either continuous medication or medication at set periodic intervals.
• Medical pumps provide controlled drug infusion such that a drug can be administered at a precise rate to maintain a drug concentration within a therapeutic margin and out of an unnecessary or possibly toxic range.
• the medical pumps can provide appropriate drug delivery to a patient at a controllable rate, which does not require frequent attention.
• Medical pumps may facilitate administration of intravenous therapy to patients both in and outside of a clinical setting. Outside a clinical setting, doctors have found that in many instances patients can return to substantially normal lives, provided they receive periodic or continuous intravenous administration of medication.
• therapies requiring this kind of administration are antibiotic therapy, chemotherapy, pain control therapy, nutritional therapy, and several other types known by those skilled in the art.
• patients receive multiple daily therapies.
• Certain medical conditions require infusion of drugs in solution over relatively short periods such as from thirty minutes to two hours. These conditions and others have combined to promote the development of increasingly lightweight, portable, or ambulatory infusion pumps that can be worn by a patient and are capable of administering a continuous supply of medication at a desired rate, or providing several doses of medication at scheduled intervals.
• Configurations of infusion pumps include elastomeric pumps, which squeeze solution from flexible containers, such as balloons, into intravenous (“IV") tubing for delivery to a patient.
• spring-loaded pumps pressurize solution containers or reservoirs.
• Certain pump designs utilize cartridges containing flexible compartments that are squeezed by pressure rollers for discharging solutions.
• Infusion pumps utilizing syringes are also known. These pumps use a drive mechanism to move a plunger of a syringe to deliver fluid to a patient.
• these infusion pumps include a housing adapted to receive a syringe assembly, a drive mechanism adapted to move the syringe plunger, a pump control unit having a variety of operating controls, and a power source for powering the pump including the drive mechanism and controls.
• infusion pumps are portable.
• an infusion pump may be smaller and more compact for mobile use by ambulatory patients or other patients.
• a portable pump must be supplied with an equally portable power source to power a pump motor.
• Batteries are a suitable choice of power for portable units.
• Some pumps may use disposable batteries while other pumps may use rechargeable batteries.
• the pump may also be sized for attachment to an IV pole.
• the IV pole, with attached pump may remain stationary or may be moved about in a hospital setting.
• the pump may be attached to a hospital bed or other support structure.
• the pump may be portable and may be carried by the patient, for example, in a pouch.
• the pump may be attached to and supported by the patient's clothing and/or other support apparel such as a belt, a vest, or the like.
• a medical device delivers medication at a specified rate.
• the existing methods have several disadvantages, limitations, and drawbacks.
• existing methods require the devices to be within a particular distance of a fluid supply container such as an IV bag. This can be particularly problematic in situations where multiple devices are located in a stack and/or the devices are mobile relative to a fluid supply container.
• the medical device may stop functioning and/or fail to deliver medication at a specified rate. Accordingly, a need exists for a system that adjusts a flow rate of medical devices based on a distance between a fluid supply container and the medical devices.
• a computer-implemented method includes determining a location of a plurality of infusion pumps in a pump stack including the plurality of infusion pumps and a fluid supply connected to each of the plurality of infusion pumps, determining a reference infusion pump, in the plurality of infusion pumps, and adjusting a flow rate for each infusion pump in the plurality of infusion pumps based on s distance between the infusion pump and the reference infusion pump.
• the fluid supply container comprises an IV bag.
• the distance between an infusion pump and the reference infusion pump is based on a tone generated by the reference infusion pump.
• the distance between an infusion pump and the reference infusion pump is determined based on the number of infusion pumps between the infusion pump and the reference infusion pump.
• a sensor of each infusion pump is configured to measure the respective head height pressure imparted by fluid from the fluid supply container.
• the reference infusion pump is determined as having a head height pressure that is within a threshold value of a target fluid pressure.
• the target fluid pressure is set to ensure that the reference infusion pump has a flow rate accuracy within a specified range.
• the flow rate is adjusted for each infusion pump based on the distance from the reference infusion pump so that the flow rate is within the specified range of the flow rate accuracy.
• the distance between each of the infusion pumps and the reference infusion pump is determined based on a known height of each infusion pump and a number of infusion pumps between the reference infusion pump and the respective infusion pump.
• an infusion pump system includes a mounting device, a fluid supply container connected to a top of the mounting device, a first infusion pump connected to the mounting device below the fluid supply container, and a second infusion pump connected to the mounting device below the first infusion pump.
• the first and second infusion pumps are configured to determine a respective location in a pump stack, determine which of the first and second infusion pumps are a reference infusion pump, and adjust a flow rate of the first or second infusion pump that is not the reference infusion pump based on the distance between the infusion pump and the reference infusion pump.
• determining the location of the first and second infusion pumps in the pump stack includes determining or measuring a head height pressure for each of the first and second infusion pumps, and ordering the first and second infusion pumps from a lowest to greatest head height pressure.
• a sensor of each of the first and second infusion pumps is configured to measure the respective head height pressure imparted by fluid from the fluid supply container.
• the reference infusion pump is determined as having a head height pressure that is within a threshold value of a target fluid pressure.
• the target fluid pressure is set to ensure that the reference infusion pump has a flow rate accuracy within a specified range.
• the flow rate is adjusted for the first or second infusion pump that is not the reference infusion pump based on the distance from the reference infusion pump so that the flow rate is within the specified range of the flow rate accuracy.
• the distance between the reference infusion pump and the first or second infusion pump that is not the reference infusion pump is based on a tone generated by the reference infusion pump.
• the system further includes a fourth infusion pump connected to the mounting device below the third infusion pump.
• the first, second, third, and fourth infusion pumps are configured to determine a respective location in the pump stack, determine which of the first, second, third, and fourth infusion pumps are the reference infusion pump, and adjust a flow rate of the first, second, third, and fourth infusion pumps that are not the reference infusion pump based on the distance between the infusion pumps and the reference infusion pump.
• the first and second infusion pumps are communicatively coupled to each other via at least one of a Bluetooth ® connection, a Wi-Fi, a near-field communication ("NFC”) connection, a serial connection, or a controller area network connection.
• a Bluetooth ® connection a Wi-Fi connection
• NFC near-field communication
• serial connection a serial connection
• controller area network connection a controller area network connection
• any of the features, functionality and alternatives described in connection with any one or more of Figs. 1 to 5 may be combined with any of the features, functionality and alternatives described in connection with any other of Figs. 1 to 5 .
• Medical devices such as infusion pumps
• infusion pumps can be used to deliver treatments to patients. These treatments typically include delivering medication at a particular flow rate.
• the infusion pumps are commonly installed on a mobile IV stand, with one or more IV supply containers hung from a top of the mobile IV stand and one or more infusion pumps mounted to a pole in a middle of the mobile IV stand.
• the infusion pumps typically need to be mounted within a specified distance from the current fluid level in the IV supply container, and this height can change as the location of the infusion pumps and/or fluid level in the IV supply container changes.
• Flow rate accuracy is necessary to maintain a flow rate of medication within a desirable range.
• IV bag placement vertically relative to an infusion pump creates a head height pressure for fluid entering the pump.
• the head height pressure impacts the flow rate accuracy of the infusion pump.
• IV bag placement relative to an infusion pump is an important parameter for ensuring flow rate accuracy.
• the number of infusion pumps in a pump stack can be increased until the accuracy limit of the pumping mechanism is reached.
• Taller pump stacks beyond this working range are typically not possible or require additional hardware to place the IV supply containers lower, both of which limit environments where maximizing the number of pumps in a vertical direction to maximize floor space efficiency and to minimize the floor cost is desirable.
• existing techniques are prone to human error resulting in improper set-up of the infusion pumps, resulting in medication delivery outside of a desired flow rate. Additionally, existing techniques add unnecessary cost and complexity to maintain flow rate accuracy for an arbitrarily large stack of infusion pumps.
• Systems and methods in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure improve on existing techniques and can automatically maintain a flow rate within a desired flow rate accuracy threshold with little or no user intervention.
• the techniques disclosed herein enable clinicians to install infusion pumps within a pump stack without manually configuring each of the infusion pumps.
• Techniques described herein enable the automated identification of a pump's position within a pump stack and/or the relative position of the pump to one or more other pumps in the pump stack. Once the position in stack is known, the flow rate is then adjusted based on a head height range and/or a desired flow rate accuracy.
• the adjusted flow rate can compensate for the differences in head height pressure between a reference location and an infusion pump, such as a distance from an IV supply container and/or a reference device or pump in the pump stack.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a device stack 100, according to an example aspect of the present disclosure.
• the device stack 100 includes one or more devices (e.g., infusion pumps) 110 and one or more fluid supply containers (e.g., IV bags) 112 mounted to a mounting device 114.
• the devices 110 can include a top device, a reference device, a bottom device, and/or a plurality of intermediate devices, as described herein.
• a distance 120 between the fluid supply containers 112 and a particular device can be used to determine a head height as described herein.
• the distance 120 can represent the distance between the fluid supply container 112 and a first (top) device in devices 110.
• a distance 122 can represent the distance between the fluid supply containers 112 and a reference device (middle or sixth device from the top) in devices 110.
• the reference device is determined as the device in the devices 110 that is a reference distance from the fluid supply container 112.
• the reference device is the device that has a fluid pressure within a threshold value of a target fluid pressure, where the target fluid pressure is set to ensure that the device has a flow rate accuracy within a desired range.
• at least some of the devices among the devices 110 are located at a distance 124 from the fluid supply container 112.
• the distance 124 can include distances beyond a specification where the devices 110 can deliver fluid at a flow rate within a desired range using existing techniques.
• the distance 124 is defined as the distance between a reference device and a bottom device in devices 110 or a reference device and devices located below the reference device.
• FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an electronic device (e.g., an infusion pump) 200, according to an example aspect of the present disclosure.
• the device 200 is representative of one or more of the devices 110 of FIG. 1 .
• the device 200 can include processors 210, a memory 220, communication interfaces 230, sensors 240, controllers 242, and/or a power supply 244.
• the processor 210 may also be referred to as a central processing unit ("CPU"), a logic controller, or a microcontroller.
• the processor 210 can include one or more devices capable of executing instructions encoding arithmetic, logical, and/or I/O operations.
• the processor 210 may be a single core processor that is capable of executing one instruction at a time (or process a single pipeline of instructions) and/or a multi-core processor that may simultaneously execute multiple instructions.
• the processor 210 may be implemented as a single integrated circuit, two or more integrated circuits, and/or may be a component of a multi-chip module in which individual microprocessor dies are included in a single integrated circuit package and hence share a single socket.
• the memory 220 can include any combination of volatile and/or non-volatile memory devices, such as RAM, ROM, EEPROM, or any other device capable of storing data.
• the memory 220 stores a variety of data 222.
• the data 222 causes the device 200 to provide one or more application programming interfaces ("APIs") that obtain signals from a variety of devices using the communication interfaces 230. In this way, the device 200 can automatically determine its location within a stack of devices and/or control a flow rate within a desired flow rate accuracy metric. Access to the APIs can be open and/or secured using any of a variety of techniques, such as by using client authorization keys, as appropriate to the requirements of specific applications of the disclosure.
• Communication interfaces 230 can include a network device (e.g., a network adapter or any other component that connects a computer to a computer network), a peripheral component interconnect (“PCI") device, storage devices, disk drives, sound or video adaptors, photo/video cameras, printer devices, keyboards, displays, etc.
• the communications interfaces 230 may communicate via a variety of networks, as appropriate.
• These networks can include a LAN (local area network), a WAN (wide area network), telephone network (e.g., a Public Switched Telephone Network ("PSTN”)), a Session Initiation Protocol (“SIP”) network, a wireless network, a point-to-point network, a star network, a token ring network, a hub network, wireless networks (including protocols such as EDGE, 3G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, 5G, WiMAX, and the like), the Internet, and the like.
• PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
• SIP Session Initiation Protocol
• the sensor devices 240 may include a variety of sensors configured to sense a variety of environmental and/or physical conditions. In several embodiments, the sensor devices 240 may be used to measure and/or record data regarding a patient being treated for a particular condition. In many embodiments, the sensor devices 240 can detect conditions of a room, such a temperature, humidity, light levels, and the like. In a variety of embodiments, the sensor devices 240 can measure head height pressure, flow rate, flow rate accuracy, and/or signals provided by devices in a device stack, as described herein.
• any of a variety of architectures including those that store data or applications on a disk or some other form of storage and are loaded into a memory at runtime, can also be utilized. Additionally, any of the data utilized in the system can be cached and transmitted once a network connection (such as a wireless network connection via the communications interface) becomes available.
• a memory includes circuitry such as, but not limited to, memory cells constructed using transistors that store instructions.
• a processor can include logic gates formed from transistors (or any other device) that dynamically perform actions based on the instructions stored in the memory.
• the instructions are embodied in a configuration of logic gates within the processor to implement and/or perform actions described by the instructions. In this way, the systems and methods described herein can be performed utilizing both general-purpose computing hardware and by single-purpose devices.
• FIG. 3A shows a flow rate accuracy table 300 for a head height of +50 inches (e.g., where the pump is 50 inches below the fluid supply) for a variety of different IV tubes.
• FIG. 3B shows a flow rate accuracy table 350 for a head height of -20 inches (e.g., where the pump is 20 inches above the fluid supply) for a variety of different IV tubes. It should be noted that the flow rate accuracy tables 300 and 350 are provided for explanatory purposes only and that any head heights, IV tubes, and/or flow rate accuracies can be utilized as appropriate.
• FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a flow rate control process, according to an example aspect of the present disclosure.
• the process 400 is described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 4 , it should be appreciated that many other methods of performing the acts associated with the process 400 may be used. For example, the order of some of the blocks may be changed, certain blocks may be combined with other blocks, one or more blocks may be repeated, and some of the blocks described are optional.
• the process 400 may be performed by processing logic (e.g., the processor 210 of FIG. 2 ) that may include hardware (circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), software, or a combination of both.
• the process 400 includes determining (410) that a device has been added to a device stack.
• the device can be an infusion pump and the device stack can be a stack of infusion pumps, as described herein.
• Determining (410) that a device has been added to a device stack can include, but is not limited to, using one or more sensors located in the device to determine that it has been mounted to a mounting device, that there is another device/infusion pump located above and/or below the device, and/or that a fluid supply container has been connected to the device.
• determining (410) that a device has been added to a device stack includes receiving signals that can be used to determine (412) a position of the device within the device stack. It should be noted that, in a variety of embodiments, the device can already be present in the device stack when the signals are received.
• a device position can be determined (412).
• the device position can be determined (412) within the device stack.
• head height pressure can be measured for each device and used to establish the position of each device in the stack, such as illustrated in FIG. 5.
• FIG. 5 illustrates force differentials based on head height for a device stack, according to example aspects of the present disclosure. It should be noted that the force differential table 500 is provided for explanatory purposes only and that any number of pumps, reference heights and/or pressures, and/or forces can be utilized as appropriate.
• Each device can determine its head height pressure and transmit its pressure and/or a device identifier to the other devices within the device stack using any communication channels as described herein.
• these communication channels can include, but are not limited to, Bluetooth ® , Wi-Fi, near-field communication ("NFC”), a serial connection, a controller area network connection, direct electrical contacts, optical communication channels including LED and photodiode communication channels, and contactless radio frequency (“RF”) connections.
• the head height pressure can be determined based on the distance from a fluid supply container to the device, the type of IV tube used to connect the fluid supply to the device, the diameter of the of the IV tube, and/or any of a variety of criteria as appropriate. Each device can order the devices by their head height pressure (e.g., high to low, low to high, and the like).
• an ambient light sensor can be used to detect device location within the device stack.
• the ambient light sensor can determine, based on a reference light level, how much light is reaching the sensors, which can be used to calculate a number of devices located above the device.
• each device can generate a unique tone at a specified volume and/or frequency and produce the tone via its speaker.
• Each device in the device stack can receive each of the unique tones using its microphone and, based on the difference in volume and/or frequency between the received tone and the specified volume and/or frequency for a particular device, a distance between the microphone and the speaker generating the tone can be determined. These distances can be used to determine the relative ordering of the devices within the device stack.
• the devices may be connected to communication bus via respective ports on a rack.
• Each port may be assigned an identifier. Since a location of each port relative to the rack is known, the identifiers of the ports may be used by the devices to determine a location on the rack.
• the devices may transmit or broadcast messages indicative of their port identifier. Each device may use the received identifiers to determine its position. Further, when a distance from a fluid supply container is known, the devices may automatically determine their respective distances from the fluid supply container for estimating head height pressure.
• the flow compensation data can be determined (414) such that the flow rate for the device remains within a flow rate accuracy threshold of a target flow rate.
• the target flow rate and/or flow compensation data can be determined (414) based on the head height pressure of the device, the distance of the device from the reference device, the head height pressure and/or flow rate of the reference device, a desired flow rate for a particular fluid supply, and/or any other data as appropriate.

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• 2022
  • 2022-07-29 KR KR1020247006850A patent/KR20240034860A/ko active Pending
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  • 2022-07-29 EP EP25196118.1A patent/EP4623949A3/de active Pending
  • 2022-07-29 WO PCT/US2022/038855 patent/WO2023014605A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2022-07-29 ES ES22757772T patent/ES3053593T3/es active Active
  • 2022-07-29 CA CA3227765A patent/CA3227765A1/en active Pending
• 2024
  • 2024-05-28 US US18/675,992 patent/US20240307614A1/en active Pending

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